The UN, along with a host of development partners, and the Nepali government made an appeal today for financial aid to provide urgent relief for people affected by the earthquake that struck Nepal Saturday morning.

Mr. Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for the Asia-Pacific concluded his three-day visit to Nepal urging the government leadership to quickly complete the transition process. He commended Nepal’s leaders for committing to graduate from the ranks of least developed countries by 2022, but said that strong political commitment accompanied by measurable actions was need to achieve the goals within next 8 years.

The first-ever two-day national dialogue on the legal and social challenges facing, as well as the opportunities for, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people and organizations in Nepal closed today with a call to the government to decriminalize same-sex sexual activity in the law and urged greater protection of rights of sexual and gender minorities. The participants also called on the government and affiliated parties to enshrine the rights of sexual and gender minorities in the constitution.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have reached an agreement to implement a programme supporting the Supreme Court of Nepal and the Ministry of Law and Justice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs in minimizing impunity and protection and promotion of access to justice for thousands of poor and vulnerable people in Nepal.

Norway to provide USD 4.054 million for a new rule of law and human rights programme; the programme seeks to increase access to justice for thousands of vulnerable and poor people in Nepal and increase the rate of implementation of court judgments to 50 percent.